The ESTA authorization request: mandatory for which countries?

An ESTA is a system put in place by the United States government to maintain visa-free access to the United States while maintaining a strong security policy.

The visa waiver is part of a program called the Visa Waiver Program. This program is designed to facilitate exchanges between the United States and several allied countries that pursue similar security policies.

Only citizens of VWP member countries can travel to the USA with the ESTA. Most of these countries are members of the European Union or are located on the European continent: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel (since October 2023), Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Is ESTA fair for Europe?

It is possible for certain non-European nationals to travel to the United States without a visa. Citizens of the Sultanate of Brunei, the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Japan and Singapore can travel to the United States with ESTA authorization only.

For countries not covered by ESTA, their nationals must have a USA visa corresponding to the nature of the trip: diplomatic, sports, investor, journalist, au pair, semester of study…

It is possible for an airline or cruise line serving the United States to deny boarding to a passenger without a visa or ESTA.

An ESTA is valid for a maximum of 2 years from the date of issue, subject to the validity of the passport for the USA. If the passport expires before the ESTA, the authorization will no longer be valid and you will have to apply for another one with the new passport number.